It was the best of times, it was the worst of times, it was the age of wisdom, it was the age of foolishness, it was the age of belief, it was the age of unbelief, it was the season of Light, it was the season of Darkness, it was the spring of hope, it was the winter of despair, we had everything ahead of us, we had nothing ahead of us, we were all going straight to Heaven, we were all going straight to the other side… .
Excerpts from A Tale of Two Cities (1859) by Charles Dickens
If you are asked to use one word to describe China, what word would you use? “Undemocratic” because both Facebook and YouTube are blocked in China? “Prosperous” because you’ve seen China’s towering skyscrapers and high-speed trains soaring? “Inhumane” because you’ve seen the Yuling Dog Meat Festival report? “Rich” because you’ve seen crazy Chinese buyers of luxury goods in major cities around the world? None of the above could generalize China so easily, but a safe and secure way to describe China is that everything in China is in transformation, meaning that nothing in China is complete or perfected yet, nor has anything begun yet.
1. From lack of creativity to full creativity / From uniformity to diversity
Suppose there are ten China-made phones with the same inches but different brands on the table, it’s easy to think that they are just different models under one brand, because they have almost the same looks, features and specifications. Almost every new change in a new iPhone can invite numerous copied designs in the Chinese phone industry, Chinese manufacturers don’t even have to think, they just copy their industry leader. The origin of the Chinese people’s lack of creativity actually goes back to the ancient Chinese imperial exams in which the essays were framed around a rigid and artificial structure. This kind of unnecessarily uniform educational system has a far-reaching effect on the current Gaokao (China’s National Higher Education Entrance Examination), leading to a lack of focus on teaching critical thinking and ignoring emotions, values and student personalities. As a result, Chinese students or providers tend to focus only on how they can imitate their counterparts, so that they can achieve the same grades or earnings. However, with the rapid development of the Chinese economy and society, the Chinese are turning their attention to awakening people’s individuality and personality, for example, people are praised for being who they are, expressing what they think and doing what they like rather than merely according to common expectations. So are Chinese products, the world is witnessing wave after wave of technological innovation in Chinese industry, that is why Chinese companies, including tech giants like Huawei, are attaching more and more importance to intellectual property.
2. From driven by money to driven by ideals
The Chinese people are more or less regarded as a faithless nation, as generation after generation of people are taught to believe in socialism and Marxism and regard religious beliefs as superstitious. But do the Chinese really have no faith and have nothing in mind to trust? Not exactly, the Chinese root their actions and words in money, family ties, and human connection (Guanxi). Although these concepts are not written in the country’s textbooks, all Chinese people are consciously or unconsciously enacting these essential elements in their lives. The first questions that come to people’s minds when talking about a certain profession are: Does it make you a lot of money? Do you have a tall relative or friend who deals with that area? The answers to these questions generally determine how likely someone is to earn respect and achieve success. People care less about the contribution a certain profession makes to other people and more about what that profession can earn for the family and for themselves financially and respectfully. However, despite everything to the contrary, the Chinese are also changing, more and more people are dedicated to solving virtual problems and creating something truly revolutionary for humanity. Examples include Jack Ma who completely changed the way people do business and shop, Pony Ma who changed the way Chinese people connect with each other, etc. The Chinese discover that they are too focused on material gain and begin to shift their attention to improving the environment, science, ways of doing things, and social welfare.
3. From non-professional to professional
Business lies are not lies. But sometimes Chinese businessmen tend to abuse this form of communication in business, they are inclined to think that they can do everything to achieve great business, because they believe that whatever can be done is not bad, as long as it is not be criminalized. easily. Some are admired by many others because they can make huge fortunes even by ripping off their buyers or evading taxes in some “clever” way. They believe that the person who earns the most money is the real winner. Indeed, their way of doing business will certainly not fit into the world outside of China, that is one of the reasons why many giant global companies find China a very difficult market to fit in, such as Amazon, eBay, Yahoo or even Google. Fortunately, as noted at the beginning of this review, nothing in China is perfect yet, but China is also undergoing significant changes in the way of doing business, with more and more companies discovering the long-term benefits of ensuring transparency, professionalism, good quality , good service and integrity. Take Alibaba as an example, Jack Ma’s team is vigorously striving to remove counterfeit products from Taobao, though effectiveness is another matter for discussion.